Same band, same members
Gord Downie was gone too soon. I won’t eulogize too much in this column as the passing of The Tragically Hip’s front man has dominated the news for the past 24 hours and stories can be found on three different pages in today’s Herald.
Something I found amusing was that several of my friends went to see The Hip in concert at a Michigan venue in or around 1996. The big joke was every car in the parking lot had Ontario plates. Their fan base was truly Canadian.
What I do find remarkable is not counting their days as a bar band, since the Hip’s major 1989 release they kept the same five band members for their entire run. Nobody got mad and quit, or went solo, they all managed to get along and work together — and these were musicians. U2 is the only other band that quickly comes to mind for having the same members for their entire run.
Our condonlensces to the family and friends of Don Robertson, owner and founder of Elliott Row; 4 Her, 4 Him in the downtown.
The first Elliott Row shop opened in 1992 in West Kelowna but was relocated to Penticton in 1995.
Originally told he had six months to live, Don battled cancer for 18 years with 10 major surgeries and over one million milligrams of oral chemotherapy. He actively fundraised and hosted special events for cancer research.
Sadly he lost his battle earlier this week at the age of 54. Funeral services will be held Oct. 23 in Kelowna.
Coun. Andre Martin came up with a good suggestion during random conversation at this week’s Penticton City Council session and I hope staff acts on it.
There were several public hearings where neighbours opposed to developments mentioned parking as a huge concern. Several added that on garbage collection days, the garbage truck won’t stop and pick up trash because someone has parked on the street.
This would annoy me having to keep garbage for an additional week and with the new cart program, those bins fill up quickly. In the summer, garbage can become pretty stinky. Martin suggested that on-street parking be banned on garbage days. Great idea. Director of operations Mitch Moroziuk said the City only has two bylaw officers and enforcement could be difficult. He did speculate signage could reduce up to 80 per cent of the cars on garbage day.
Also on the topic of garbage, Coun. Helena Konanz admitted that since the cart program was introduced, she has received multiple calls of complaint from citizens. Konanz did not mention specifically what the issues are.
We are about a year now from the next municipal election and you can sometimes tell who’s thinking of running by the gallery in City Hall. Lynn Kelsey is like furniture — she’s always there. The long-time watchdog has already announced her attentions to run for a fourth time. Former candidates who I’ve recently spotted in the gallery include Brian Henningson, Doug Maxwell and Brian Horejsi.
For all the former Albertans out there (myself included), I’d like to do a brief recap of Monday’s municipal election coutesy of The Canadian Press.
As you saw on Page 1 yesterday, Naheed Nenshi was re-elected in Calgary — no surprise but his margin of victory was much lower than previous elections.
Elsewhere in the province, Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson easily won a second term, while incumbents also fared well in other Alberta cities. Chris Spearman was re-elected in Lethbridge, as was Ted Clugston in Medicine Hat, Bill Given in Grande Prairie, Stuart Houston in Spruce Grove, William Choy in Stony Plain, and Tara Veer in Red Deer.
One of the few places where an incumbent was not running for re-election was the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which includes Fort McMurray. Melissa Blake, who had been mayor since 2004, did not run again and will be replaced by Don Scott, a former provincial Conservative cabinet minister. Blake had been praised for her grace under pressure after a devastating wildfire swept through the city in 2016 and also advocated for more housing and expanded infrastructure when Fort McMurray boomed before the last oil downturn.
James Miller is managing editor of The Penticton Herald. To contact the writer, email: editor@pentictonherald.ca.